The term “sustainability” is quite the buzz word these days - used to describe surfboards, wetsuits, wax, clothing and every other surf product you could possibly sell. But how sustainable is it to market these products as “sustainable”?
I wonder if over saturation of the term simply dilutes its meaning for surf companies and products truly making an impact for our sport as compared to those who use the term to take advantage of a trend. The definition and various meanings of the term is an entirely different thought - saved for a later date. But how long until “sustainability” becomes just another marketing message without any meaning?
“…how long until “sustainability” becomes just another marketing message without any meaning?”
In the overwhelming number of cases, I’m not sure it has ever been anything more than marketing. By my reckoning the only thing the majority of purveyors hope to sustain is commerce.
Thanks for the thoughts (and for the link above).
It’s definitely become a “buzzword”, one I’ve been guilty of using quite often myself. The problem lies in that there’s no clear definition for it so it’s hard to quantify or call bullshit on people when they start “greenwashing” their products with these buzzwords.
Quote from Yvon Chouinard in a recent Treehugger.com interview:
“So there’s a lot misinformation out there, especially right now with all these companies claiming to be green and stuff like that. So we want to be absolutely dead honest on how difficult it is, and that, in reality, there’s no such thing as sustainability. No matter how clean and green we can be, we’re still net polluters.
TH: Is that unavoidable?
YC: Yeah. There’s no such thing as sustainability. You can’t manufacture a product without ending up with more waste and pollution than your final product. It’s the second law of thermodynamics, you can’t help it.”
Link to interview:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/02/the_th_interview_yvon_chouinard.php